KEY POINTS:
Chiefs coach Ian Foster has conceded he won't have time to properly prepare his cobbled-together side to face the Sharks on Sunday.
Foster admitted it wouldn't be possible to fully integrate his battery of replacements ahead of a match the playoff-chasing Sharks will be desperate to win.
Earlier
results will likely have extinguished the battered Chiefs' playoff hopes by the time they take the field and, with there being little he could do about his players' ailing bodies, Foster said he would concentrate on getting their heads right.
"I guess the way we are looking at this game is that, mathematically, we have got a chance," Foster said.
"Whether we see ourselves as having a strong chance or not, the fact is this game is going to be like a playoff game anyway.
"We know we are going to be turning up at Durban with pretty much a full crowd and a fired up team with lots to play for. So, whether we like it or not, this is going to be a very intense playoff game.
"And there is plenty for us to play for. We want to get on that stage and show that we can be there at this time of the season. Whether that is enough to get something at the end of it, time will tell."
The Chiefs have made good use of the revolving door at their hotel this week, with five players returning home and four replacements heading to South Africa.
With three props among the departed - the injured Simms Davison and Simon Lemalu and the suspended Ben May - the engine room is looking particularly bare.
Ben Castle is the last prop standing from the squad named at the start of the year, while hookers Tom Willis and Aled de Malmanche also remain on tour.
Willis, however, is nursing a rib injury and is a doubtful starter.
Fringe player John Paeranga will provide cover if Willis doesn't pull through, while Nathan White, who anchored the Chiefs scrum at tighthead last season, will likely start.
If he does, it will mark a rapid return from injury for White, who underwent surgery on a disk after injuring his back in Waikato's national championship campaign.
All Blacks halfback Brendon Leonard has also rejoined the squad after recovering from a knee injury and Bay of Plenty utility Murray Williams has been called in to provide backline cover.
Centre Richard Kahui and halfback David Bason complete the quintet returning to New Zealand. Injured pair Sitiveni Sivivatu (ankle) Sione Lauaki (hamstring) are making progress but are still doubtful for the match. Playmaker Stephen Donald is also nursing a sore neck.